Inertial Impulses
by Rider Paladin
Summary: In the DC Universe we know, Inertia is still a villain even One Year Later. In another, he came back into Bart Allen's life as an ally, at a moment of crucial change for the young speedster. Watch as Thad Thawne makes some changes in his life and Bart's.
1. Chapter 1

"Inertial Impulses"

Part 1: "A Kid's Game"

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics, not me.

Author's note: Last week, I came to the realization that DC Comics seriously lacks for anti-hero speedsters. It has villainous and heroic speedsters, but never speedsters who walk the fine line between good and evil. Marvel Comics, on the other hand, has speedsters who are more likely to be seen as anti-heroes, such as Quicksilver of X-Men and Avengers fame or Speed of the Young Avengers. In this vein, I give you Inertia, the doppelganger of Bart Allen, currently known as the Flash and formerly known as Impulse and Kid Flash.

Why Inertia? Why not? In my opinion, DC missed an opportunity with Inertia, who started out as a living weapon of the Thawnes' hatred for the Allen line. In his last pre-OYL (One Year Later) appearance in a DC comic, Inertia came to the realization that his own life had been left cold and empty by the purpose of his existence and he ran away, presumably to find a new purpose. OYL, he's still a villain, only (in my opinion) he no longer has a motivation for being one. My idea, which you will see unfold in this story, is to make him a "dark hero" of sorts, someone who wants to do the right thing and atone for his crimes but doesn't know how to do it.

To do this, I am rewriting much of Teen Titans v3, starting with the events collected in the TPB known as "A Kid's Game." From there, you will see Inertia make his debut as an anti-hero.

* * *

In San Francisco, California, a sports car tore down the street, its driver and other occupants fleeing the cops. They could barely hear the loud sirens behind them, which they took as an indication that they had outrun the police. The driver gunned the car even faster, laughing and whooping with sheer animalistic joy at his getaway. One of his passengers in the backseat shouted, "Hell yeah! No way they'll get us now!"

Suddenly, the occupant of the passenger seat yelped. "What's wrong with you?" the driver asked.

"I saw something!" the occupant of the passenger seat replied. "A blur!"

"Come off it, man," another of the occupants of the backseat said. "The Flash is in Keystone City. Not San Fran."

"I'm not exactly the Flash," a young male voice spoke darkly from in front of them.

The driver frantically slammed the brakes, trying not to run over the owner of the voice. He felt the car stop, but not necessarily according to his will. It almost felt as though the car was being made to stop by an external force. However it happened, the car stopped, the headlights bright enough to illuminate a small teenage boy in a skintight black suit with a thick green lightning-edged stripe down the middle of his uniform. Black boots with green straps at the tops covered his feet and calves, while black gloves with green straps around the gauntlets covered his hands. A green mask with orange goggles and ear-caps with lightning-like wings covered his eyes, leaving his nose, mouth, jaw, and blond hair exposed.

"What the hell?!" one of the occupants shouted. "Who the hell are you?!"

The boy's only answer was to run toward them, disappearing from view as he did. When he reemerged, he was behind the car with a grim smile on his face. Suddenly, the car split in half and the two halves fell inward, leaving the occupants trapped inside. Screams of terror escaped from the halved car.

"Want me to get you out of there?" the boy asked. With a vicious kick and a sonic boom following, the halves of the car scattered, rolling over the street and finally landing with the open sides up. Of course, the occupants had fallen out due to the fact that none of them were wearing seatbelts. The occupants managed to rise to their feet, but barely. "Don't even think of running."

They tried to run away, but the next thing they knew, they had been waylaid and dropped on their backsides by the boy. They smelled something that vaguely smelled like burning meat . . . and screams of pain followed. They had been burned . . . somehow, the boy who seemed so insurmountably quick had burned them! What the hell was this kid, that he could do this to them?

Smoke emanated from the boy's hands. "I dare you to try that again. Seriously, I do. I could stand the exercise."

"#$ you!" the driver of the wrecked car shouted, running at the boy. The boy simply moved out of the way of the driver and swept his leg out to brutally trip the driver.

"So slow," the boy murmured. "Even when you're falling."

One of the driver's partners rushed the boy, but the boy again moved out of this way. This time, though, he moved behind the young tough and grabbed him by his hood, slamming him face-first onto the asphalt. The boy leaped off him swiftly and kicked the other two with superheated feet, knocking them down as well. He heard increasingly loudening sirens, meaning that the cops were approaching. The boy simply disappeared.

The boy was Thaddeus Thawne, alias Inertia. He was the doppelganger of Bart Allen, alias Impulse, created in the same future Bart came from to kill Bart and thus avenge the Thawne bloodline on the Allen bloodline. He had nearly succeeded, but seeing Bart Allen and his guardian Max Mercury's willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other showed him a truth he had desperately tried not to acknowledge. That truth was that unlike Bart, there was no one to love Thad, no one to genuinely care about him. With only a mission given to him by people consumed with hatred, his life was cold and empty. He was alone.

With that realization, Inertia had fled, trying to find a reason to live. And that was why he had shadowed Impulse, shadowed the boy he had been created to kill. In that time, he had come to regard Impulse as a twin brother of sorts, born of the same blood as they were. He had come down to San Francisco because he'd heard that that was where Cyborg had set up the new Teen Titans and Impulse was one of them, so . . .

Inertia stopped when he saw a news screen on one of the skyscrapers alight with the image of Cyborg holding an injured Impulse. He could see well enough to know that Impulse was bleeding from one of his knees and doing so quite profusely. Inertia gritted his teeth in rage. Bart was hurt. Impulse was hurt. _His brother_ was hurt. Whoever did this would pay . . . and he would take that toll in blood.

The blond speedster ran, stopping only when he saw people fleeing from the local library screaming about a ghost. He spotted Robin, Superboy, and Wonder Girl trying to calm the fleeing patrons. Idly, he observed that Superboy had developed some serious muscles since the last time he'd seen the Teen of Steel. He also noticed that Superboy had gone casual, wearing a black S-shield T-shirt and jeans. He discerned that Wonder Girl was now wearing a midriff-baring vestigial-sleeved shirt with Wonder Woman's emblem on it and skintight red pants with black boots and the standard Amazonian bracelets. He grinned wickedly as he noticed the wonderful things those red pants did for her backside.

Then he snapped back into reality, realizing that it wasn't a ghost . . . but a speedster. He ran inside, accelerating himself to the same speed as the speedster inside. Invisible to everyone except the other speedster, Inertia moved to find him. When he did, his eyes widened in disbelief. It was a brown-haired boy, none other than Bart Allen, reading a book with an expression of hard determination that his doppelganger had never seen on the young speedster's face before.

"Bart?" Inertia uttered.

Bart paused from his reading, apparently stunned by the sound of his own voice coming from somewhere other than his vocal cords. He turned and saw Inertia. "What are you doing here, Inertia?" he asked. "You wanna take your shot, too?"

"No," Inertia replied. "I've given that up. What's with the books?"

"I'm trying to learn how to think," Bart answered. He held up the book he'd been reading at the time, the California Penal Code. "This'll be useful when I start rounding up crooks again. Need to know exactly what laws they're breaking."

"Your knee," Inertia said.

"Prosthetic," Bart replied. "It's fine."

"Who did that to you?" Inertia questioned.

"Why do you care?" Bart asked.

"Because I was created from you," Inertia replied. "And you're the closest thing to a brother I have. Now who did that to you?"

"Deathstroke," Bart answered. "He wanted to prove a point."

"And what point would be proven by kneecapping you?" Inertia inquired in a tone of repressed anger.

"'Kids shouldn't wear costumes,'" Bart quoted.

Inertia heard the sound of something rolling. "I'll be back," he said to Bart and jogged toward the sound. It didn't take him very long – sped up as his brain was – to realize that the rolling object was a grenade. He looked up and realized that Robin, Superboy, and Wonder Girl had spotted the grenade as well. Knowing that he didn't have too long before the grenade exploded, Inertia picked it up and ran it outside, throwing it as high into the air as he could.

The explosion was still powerful enough to disorient him somewhat, but Bart and his friends would be all right; that was what counted. When Inertia regained his bearings, he found himself staring up at a tall, muscular man garbed in dark blue with lighter blue chain-link mesh around his arms and abdomen. Orange gloves, buccaneer boots, and utility belt added to the ensemble, completed by a mask with the right side a blank dark blue and the left side orange with a semi-opaque white lens.

"Deathstroke," Inertia snarled.

"Impulse," Deathstroke uttered with what had to be a smirk in his tone. "You've changed your colors."

"The name's Inertia . . . and you're a dead man," Inertia threatened. Following through with his threat, he whirled into a hyper-fast roundhouse kick, one that Deathstroke managed to stop by catching Inertia by his ankle. Inertia simply vibrated out of Deathstroke's grip and spun into a low kick that knocked the mercenary's feet out from under him. Deathstroke compensated by landing on his hands and flipping backward onto his feet, drawing his sword and slashing at Inertia, who moved out of the way but barely, surprised by Deathstroke's speed.

Inertia ran around Deathstroke and moved to chop him in the back of his neck, but Deathstroke whirled to catch his wrist. Inertia simply grabbed Deathstroke's arm with his free hand and swung himself into a super-speed kick. He bolstered that kick with a detonation resulting from the acceleration of the molecules between his foot and Deathstroke's chest. The most it did was stagger Deathstroke, as his armor had absorbed much of the impact, but Inertia was free of his grip. The blond speedster lunged at Deathstroke and assaulted him with a flurry of super-speed punches, each precisely delivered at weak spots in his armor and pressure points in his body and augmented by heat created from directly manipulated air friction.

As Inertia and Deathstroke fought, Robin, Superboy, and Wonder Girl had come out to find the cause of the explosion they'd heard. What they saw was quite surprising to them.

"Inertia!?" Superboy exclaimed in shock. "What's _he_ doing here?"

"Apparently, fighting Deathstroke," Wonder Girl replied. "But why? I thought he hated Bart."

"Maybe he's just mad Deathstroke got to Bart before he could," Superboy suggested.

Finally, Deathstroke managed to slip inside Inertia's guard and strike him hard in the rib cage, stopping Inertia's assault. "I have to give you credit," he remarked. "You're a lot better than I expected."

Inertia was ready to resume the fight, but Robin had lunged at Deathstroke, armed with his collapsible bo staff. The Teen Wonder managed to land a blow on Deathstroke, but only one blow. Of course, he wouldn't have very many opportunities for another blow. Deathstroke shattered Robin's staff with a punch, that selfsame punch finally landing on Robin's mouth and jaw, knocking him down. Robin got up and attempted to attack again, only to be brutally beaten down by the mercenary. Finally, Deathstroke pulled his rifle on the fallen Teen Wonder and pointed it squarely at his head.

"Tell me, Robin . . . is that mask bulletproof?" Deathstroke asked.

The moment the masked mercenary fired, time slowed down. Inertia could see the bullet moving toward Robin's forehead. Despite the pain in his chest, he began moving to catch the bullet before it could pierce Robin's skull. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone else moving at the same speed he was, catching the bullet in his red-gloved hand.

"Isn't this overkill?" the other speedster asked. "I mean, you're using a nitro express cartridge with a speed of two thousand fps and a striking energy of four tons. Totally wrong caliber to go hunting with. I read it in a book." All that had been said as the other speedster dismantled Deathstroke's rifle, and now Inertia could see who it was. A chagrined groan escaped his lips.

"Impulse?" Robin asked.

"Not anymore," the other speedster said, slowing down enough to be seen clearly by the others. "Kid Flash!"

* * *

End Notes: Well, I'm sure those of you who read the early issues of Teen Titans v3 would know where this came from. I'd keep going, but that would just ruin a good cliffhanger ending. In the meantime, I'd like to know what you thought of this opening chapter.

Next chapter: The new Kid Flash and Inertia, along with the other Titans, battle Deathstroke . . . only for the teen heroes to find the shocking truth behind Deathstroke's new goal!


	2. Chapter 2

"Inertial Impulses"

Part 1: "A Kid's Game"

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Teen Titans does not belong to me. It and the characters associated with it belong to DC Comics.

Author's note: Hopefully, you liked my first chapter and my take on Inertia. If you did, be prepared to see more of it. This story is going to stretch all the way to about alittle past OYL. It won't just cover Teen Titans; I'll try to squeeze in some Flash, both pre- and post-OYL.

* * *

Bart Allen was dressed in yellow and red, yellow coloring his torso and arms and red coloring his legs and groin. The yellow and red were divided by a lightning-like black line and red gloves and yellow-and-red boots added to the ensemble. A red version of the Flash's emblem adorned his chest and a yellow mask with red lightning-winged ear-caps covered half his face, leaving his hair, nose, lips, and jaw exposed. The design was recognizable to anyone who had known Wally in his teenage years as the design of Kid Flash, only modernized.

"Should I start calling myself 'Kid Zoom,' then?" Inertia grumbled before moving to Kid Flash's side, having reset his rib and speed-healed it.

"Do you have any idea how many laws you've broken?" Kid Flash asked as he and Inertia attacked Deathstroke from all sides at super-speed. "Illegal use of firearms . . . attempted destruction of public property . . . and – per California Penal Code 11165 – picking fights with minors. That would be us, jerk."

"Impulse?" Robin asked. "What happened?"

"I just spent the last relative year and a half reading the entirety of the San Francisco Public Library," Kid Flash replied as he kept up the assault on Deathstroke. "I was practicing how to . . . think. The books on aerodynamics and athletic equipment were quite helpful. The boot soles are made out of thermoacoustic polymers. The rest of the costume is made from a mesh of aerodynamic and bullet-resistant polymers, like Inertia's outfit."

"You're fast," Deathstroke hissed, "but so am I." He swiftly drew a knife and feinted an attack toward Kid Flash, forcing him to dodge into a kick that slammed into his ribs. "Hear that, Robin? That's the sound of one of his ribs breaking. Do you see how dangerous this game is?"

Robin plucked the R-emblem off his chest, revealing that it was a metal shuriken. "You have one good eye under that mask, right, Deathstroke?" He threw the R-shuriken at Deathstroke, slicing off the lens covering his left eye. "Let's see how you fight blind."

"Vicious," Deathstroke complimented.

"When I have to be," Robin added, making a beckoning gesture with his hands.

"So am I," Deathstroke said. "You don't understand now, but I'm doing this for _your_ sake. I'm doing this to protect you from what _I_ went through."

"With grenades and rifles?" Superboy asked, throwing an empty bus at Deathstroke, who dodged it with ease. "Aren't you the model parent?"

"Wonder Girl?" Robin asked.

Wonder Girl didn't directly answer him, instead ensnaring Deathstroke in her newfound lasso. She used the lasso to slam him into the façade of a nearby building. A current of lightning ran through the lasso, triggering a shock so powerful it caused an explosion that knocked the three Titans back.

"What the hell was that?" Robin asked.

"I don't know," Wonder Girl replied. "I was just so angry . . . and I wanted him to hurt . . . and the next thing I knew, the lasso was full of lightning."

Superboy went into the resulting wreckage to taunt Deathstroke. "Look at the badass merc. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide."

Meanwhile, Kid Flash and Inertia sped up to Robin and Wonder Girl. "Man, I hate that," Kid Flash said. "Had to snap my own rib back into place. Healed right up though. Read something about resetting bones –"

"Impulse?" Wonder Girl asked. "What are you doing with _Inertia?_"

"Nice to see you, too, Wonder Babe," Inertia greeted in response.

"Yeah, long time no see," Kid Flash added. "For me, anyway. And it's Kid Flash. I'll explain later." He and Inertia turned to find Robin inspecting Deathstroke's prostrate frame, recovered from the wreckage. "Is he unconscious? Tell me he's not. I could stand to hit him a few hundred more times."

"Seconded," Inertia agreed.

"Something's not right here," Robin muttered.

"Where'd Superboy go?" Wonder Girl asked.

Their answer came when Superboy tore out of the wreckage in a burst of speed that blew the other Titans and Inertia away. "Get away!" Superboy shouted. "I can't . . . I can hear his thoughts . . . my eyes . . ." His eyes, normally striking cobalt, were now glowing red. "My eyes are on fire . . ." Heat and light burst forth from his eyes, forcing Kid Flash, Robin, Wonder Girl, and Inertia to move out of the way. Kid Flash ran up the façade of a nearby building and shot himself at Superboy, grabbing him around the shoulders.

"Get away, Bart!" Superboy shouted. "I can't control it!" As he shouted that warning, his head involuntarily bashed Kid Flash's nose, knocking the speedster off him. Inertia sped to catch his twin.

"What's going on?" Kid Flash asked.

"A thousand apologies, Superboy," a strong voice said before a car slammed into Superboy, said car having been thrown by Cyborg.

"Cyborg?!" Wonder Girl cried out in shock and rage. "What the _hell_ are you _doing?_"

"Your head looks wrecked," Inertia commented, referring to the fact that Cyborg's cybernetic cranium was missing.

"You should have stayed in the Tower" was Cyborg's only answer.

"We don't hide," Wonder Girl retorted.

"But Jericho does," Cyborg replied. "He's a body jumper. He was in Deathstroke . . . now he's in Superboy. Don't make eye contact with him; that's how he jumps."

"Jericho? The _dead_ Titan?" Wonder Girl asked, nonplussed.

"Not so dead anymore," Beast Boy, in hummingbird shape, replied.

Starfire flew above the Titans, glaring down at Robin. "You shouldn't have _lied_ to me, Robin."

Robin didn't even look at her. "You didn't give me much of a choice."

Meanwhile, Beast Boy flew to Kid Flash and Inertia. "Bart? You're ok?"

Kid Flash and Inertia looked at the wreckage of the car that had been flung at Superboy. "Me?" Kid Flash asked. "Of c –" He was interrupted by Jericho directing Superboy's body to fly out of the wreckage. Jericho made eye contact with Kid Flash and transferred into his body. Sitting in the driver's seat of Kid Flash's motor functions, Jericho directed the teen speedster to attack Beast Boy. "I'm – sorry – Beast – Boy!" Kid Flash uttered as his body swiftly attacked the green shape-changer. Inertia tackled Kid Flash and the two began to fight.

"Shake it off, Bart!" Inertia shouted.

"I'm trying!" Kid Flash answered, even as his fist struck Inertia in the lower jaw. Inertia grabbed Kid Flash's wrist and spun into a slam that landed Kid Flash on the ground. As Starfire flew over them, Jericho rolled Kid Flash's eyes up and made eye contact with Starfire, jumping into her body.

"No!" Wonder Girl exclaimed.

Her body controlled by Jericho, Starfire let loose with a red-orange starbolt aimed at the Titans. Jericho directed her body into a dive, grabbing Beast Boy by the throat and lifting him into the air. "Don't . . . make me . . ." Starfire pleaded with Jericho.

"You say . . . you want to _protect_ the . . . Titans . . ." Beast Boy uttered, throwing Jericho's words back at him. He managed to gesture to the fleeing civilians. "What about them? We're here to risk our lives to help people. That's how this works. That's what we do. That's what _you_ did. Remember. _Who. You. Were._"

"Please. Stop this, Joey," Starfire pleaded.

Suddenly, someone teleported into their midst. It was a girl, not much older than the teenage Titans and Inertia. She wore a drab brown cloak over a tattered drab brown dress, the hood of the cloak covering her head. A red chakra gem could be seen on her forehead and frightened violet eyes stared out at them.

"I've . . . found you . . ." she uttered. "The pain coming from my friends. I can feel it . . . like a beacon."

"Raven!" Starfire exclaimed.

"Help me, Kory," Raven pleaded. "Before they come –" She paused, as though hearing something. "Jericho? I can sense your soul, confused and corrupted." She paused again, her eyes widening. "Jericho. Wait. _Jericho! No!_"

Jericho did not heed Raven's warning, attempting to possess her. "What's going on?!" Wonder Girl asked. Raven screamed as Jericho's astral form became visible, being inexorably pulled into her even as he cried out for his father's help. All the others could do, even Inertia, was watch in horror.

"I tried to warn him," Raven uttered in horror. "I tried to warn you all!"

Fiery astral hands suddenly materialized, grasping Raven. _"We have located her,"_ otherworldly voices spoke. _"You must come home. He calls for you. The Devil's daughter. His sister and bride."_

"You must stop them!" Raven cried out to the Titans. "Before _blood_ washes over the _Earth!_ Before –" She could say no more, as the astral hands disappeared, taking her with them.

"Raven!" Starfire cried out, even as Raven vanished beyond her and the other Titans' reach.

"Who was she?" Kid Flash asked.

"A friend of ours," Cyborg replied. "A former Titan."

"Something _took_ her," Starfire uttered.

"Looks like Deathstroke beat it too," Superboy commented, holding up the mercenary's mask.

"What happened to Jericho?" Inertia asked. "What did she do to him?"

"Nothing good," Beast Boy replied. "Her soul is a dimensional portal, but her body . . . What the hell is going on?"

"We'll worry about that later," Cyborg said. "Right now, we have some things to deal with." He turned to Inertia. "I appreciate the help, but I'm not sure I can trust you. The last time anyone heard from you, you were impersonating Bart while holding him against his will."

"I've changed since then," Inertia replied. "And that's not the real problem."

"Wait. So did we . . . win or what?" Kid Flash wondered.

"If we did . . . we sure didn't do it _together,_" Robin replied gravely, gazing out at the gap separating his peers from the older Titans and noticing Inertia standing in that gap.

Later that night, the Titans had returned to their Tower, Inertia following against Cyborg's wishes. Of course, Kid Flash had insisted rather vehemently that Inertia be allowed to come with them . . . and there was the matter of Inertia calmly threatening to dismantle Cyborg. That hadn't helped matters much, having incited Starfire to give Inertia a piece of her mind, but the cooler heads of Robin and Beast Boy prevailed, allowing Inertia to come along. At the moment, he, Kid Flash, and Robin were talking in the forest area of the island on which Titans Tower stood.

"Do you really think it's best to follow their lead on tracking Raven?" Kid Flash asked.

"For the moment, yeah," Robin replied. "But we're going to have a long talk about teamwork first." He paused to look at Bart. "What's with you? New suit, new codename, all that information you're spouting . . . I mean, you got shot. You read a bunch of books. That wouldn't make me become Nightwing."

"He wanted to be taken seriously," Inertia spoke up. "He didn't want you and the others in his life thinking that he was always going to be some hyperactive moron."

"Was I asking you?" Robin griped. "And what are you doing here, anyway? You pop up all of a sudden, you're fighting Deathstroke, and you expect us to welcome you with open arms?"

"I don't expect _that much_ from you," Inertia answered. "But you know something? I've been shadowing Bart for a long time. I know you guys treat him like a stupid little kid that'll never grow up. And I'm sick of it. He barely understands the concept of selfishness, and in all honesty, he's better adjusted than most of you people are, _you_ in particular, _Squire._"

Kid Flash moved between Inertia and Robin, sensing that they were about to come to blows. "Cool it, guys. Thanks for sticking up for me, Inertia, but I can take it from here." He turned to Robin. "You won't become Nightwing _or_ Batman because that's not what you want. Me, though; I've been ignoring the future, and it's long past time I stopped doing that. Someday – I don't know when, but someday – I'm going to be the Flash."

"Doing this . . . you're going to be in the Flash's shadow," a calmer Robin said. "You know that, right?"

"You've got it wrong, Robin," Kid Flash answered with a smirk and a thumb pointed at himself. "The Flash is going to be in _mine._"

* * *

End Notes: That's a good point at which to end this. Again, if you like my insertion of Inertia into Teen Titans v3, you're free to review. If you don't, you're still free to review. Questions, tips, critiques, and comments are all welcome.

Next chapter: Clash between the Titans and the Justice League! Watch the confrontation between Kid Flash, Inertia, and the Flash!


	3. Chapter 3

"Inertial Impulses"

Part 1: "A Kid's Game"

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics, not me. As a result of this, I make no money whatsoever from this writing. The only reward I get is the satisfaction of knowing that someone is reading it.

Author's note: In case you did like what I've written so far, there's more on the way. However, I must warn you that I'm going to need to find summaries of the second TPB before I can continue on after this, because it's been at least two years since I read "Family Lost" and I don't own it. Anyway, this chapter's going to contain the clash between the Teen Titans and Justice League seen in the original "A Kid's Game," only Inertia will be in it. If you want to see how that affects things, read on.

* * *

The next morning, Inertia had breezed by Titans Tower to see Kid Flash. As he raced through the Tower, he happened to spot Superboy brooding in his room. Curious, he stopped by the ajar door and knocked on the doorframe. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, Bart," Superboy replied, allowing Inertia to enter his room. He looked up at the black-and-green-clad speedster and groaned. "You're not Bart. What are you doing here?"

"Wondering why you, of all people, are brooding in your room like a Bat," Inertia answered dryly.

"Things have changed since the time you impersonated Bart," Superboy responded. "A lot of things have."

"I can see that," Inertia remarked. "An example being the shirt. Why is the background on your S black? You mourning someone?"

"Yeah," Superboy admitted. "I'm mourning what we once had. Things seemed so much brighter before . . . We were heroes . . . we were supposed to be invincible."

"Doesn't work like that," Inertia said.

"Why can't it?" Superboy asked. "She didn't deserve that happening to her. Cassie didn't deserve to lose someone who was like a big sister to her."

"You care about her a lot, don't you?" Inertia mused.

"Cassie? Yeah," Superboy replied. "And it hurts . . . that she can barely stand to be around me anymore." He groaned again. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. What are you even doing here, anyway?"

"Trying to change," Inertia answered. "Isn't that what you're here for, too?"

"I'm not even sure it would be good for me to change," Superboy said. "I could change, all right . . . I'm just not sure it would be into anything good."

"Tell me about it," Inertia agreed gravely.

"What happened to you?" Superboy asked.

"I wanted to be better," Inertia replied. "I wanted to be more than a tool for a generational vendetta. I wanted . . . to be like Bart. To be a hero." He sighed. "Go talk to Cassie. I think you two need to resolve some things."

"Sure," Superboy said. "I was thinking about doing that, anyway." He stood up from his bed and walked out of his room. Inertia simply went to find Kid Flash, only to find him and Robin headed off down the hall. Inertia thought nothing of speeding by them and greeting them.

"Inertia," Robin greeted somberly.

"Thad," Kid Flash greeted more energetically.

"Where are you guys headed off to?" Inertia asked.

"To tell the older Titans what's what," Kid Flash replied. "Just because they're older and more experienced than us doesn't give them the right to boss us around and treat us like we're rookies. We've been at this long enough to know a few things ourselves."

Inertia whistled approvingly. "Sounds like a plan. I've gotta see this."

"I'm glad you can be amused by our situation," Robin remarked sarcastically.

"No, seriously, I'm rooting for you," Inertia said. "If you guys are Titans and those guys are Titans, then you ought to be equals. You're all taking the same risks and you were doing this long before Cyborg recruited you, so why should you be treated like you don't know what you're doing?"

"Exactly!" Kid Flash declared. The three boys turned a corner and entered the living room, where the older Titans were currently resting. Beast Boy and Starfire were there, but Cyborg was not, not yet, anyway.

"Heh, I suppose you guys have something to say," Beast Boy chuckled slightly nervously.

"Here's the deal," Robin avowed. "From now on, if you want us to be Titans, this Tower has no more rules. We get enough of them at home. We won't stand on the sidelines. We won't be treated like inferiors."

"And all that goes double for me," Kid Flash added.

Inertia could hear a whispered exchange between Beast Boy and Starfire. Judging from the glint in Beast Boy's eye, the green changeling seemed to approve of Robin and Kid Flash's boldness. Inertia chuckled slightly; he kind of liked Beast Boy. Guy had a decent sense of humor and didn't seem to be as strict a disciplinarian as Cyborg.

Speaking of Cyborg, the now-repaired machine-man had arrived just in time to hear Robin and Kid Flash's declaration, while Starfire had stepped out. "Robin's right to a point. I suppose we _did_ kind of underestimate you and that was wrong of us. This will still be a training facility with educational seminars, but we're all in this together . . . so we should act like it. I'll still call the shots at times, but everything's open to discussion, just like when Nightwing and Donna led the team."

Beast Boy looked up at the repaired Cyborg. "Looks like you got your nuts and bolts realigned, Vic."

"Yeah," Cyborg acknowledged before turning to Inertia. "You seem like you really do want to help, so I'm going to let you come to the Tower. You're free to take part in the training and educational seminars, but I'm putting you on notice. You go too far, or do anything to endanger the Titans, and I'm tossing you out on your rear, right after I kick it. Understand?"

"I understand," Inertia answered. "Don't worry, Vic. I'm not the bastard I used to be. I'm an entirely different SOB."

At that moment, Superboy flew into the Tower with a worried expression on his face. "Um, guys, I think we might have a problem."

"Depends on what you and Wonder Girl were doing out there," Beast Boy drawled amusedly.

Inertia snickered briefly. "Bet they were getting hot and heavy and Wonder Woman showed up to stop Cassie from giving her innocence to Super-Casanova."

"Huh?" Superboy asked, glaring at Inertia, who still had an amused smirk on his face.

"Lipstick," Robin whispered, prompting Superboy to rub the corner of his lip and find pink lipstick on it.

The male Titans and Inertia tore out of the Tower upon hearing the sound of a violent and powerful impact. The first thing they saw upon exiting the Tower was Wonder Woman and Starfire wrestling in the dirt. "Not that I don't enjoy seeing those two wrestle in the mud, but what is going on?" Beast Boy asked.

"Wonder Woman said she didn't want Cassie being a Titan," Superboy answered.

"Kory neglected to mention that," Cyborg groaned.

The next thing the male Titans and Inertia saw was Wonder Woman and Starfire tearing out of the brush and rocketing into the air, still gripping each other in a clash of titans. "_H'tal bkt'r!_" Starfire yelled.

"Cassie, wait!" Superboy shouted, spotting Wonder Girl flying after the two combatants.

"What did Starfire just say?" Kid Flash asked.

"She's speaking Tamaranish," Beast Boy replied. "Or Tamaranese. Whatever. It just means she's really pissed off. Come on. "We –"

"– need to settle down," a strong, authoritative voice finished. The Titans and Inertia stopped, finding themselves facing Superman, Batman, the Flash, and John Stewart, acting Green Lantern of Earth. In other words, the Justice League had come to Titans Tower to rein in the unruly upstarts.

"The Teen Titans, huh?" the Flash remarked almost disbelievingly.

"What is the Justice League doing here?" Cyborg asked angrily.

"Wonder Woman told us she _never_ authorized Wonder Girl's involvement," Batman replied from his perch on an emerald platform resembling his symbol.

"_Authorized?_" Kid Flash asked. "No one _authorized me_ to join. I'm here because _I_ wanna be."

"Authorized," Inertia sneered. "Just like you fascistic bastards to say something like that. You act as if you have the right to tell the rest of the world, particularly your fellow heroes and protégés, how to behave because you're the al-freaking-mighty Justice League."

"We're here because Starfire infringed on Wonder Woman's mentorship of Wonder Girl," Green Lantern answered.

"As if that gives you the right to come here and start bossing us around," Inertia retorted.

"We still don't know who started the fight," Cyborg cut in.

"Come on, Vic," the Flash said. "Diana's not the first person to throw a punch. Starfire, on the other hand –"

"Wonder Woman will bring the alien princess to the ground," Green Lantern interrupted. "The rest of you stay put."

"No way, Green Lantern," Kid Flash averred. "'The proper office of a friend is to stand with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anyone will stand with you when you're in the right.'" Those were his last words before he and Inertia tore away to find Wonder Woman and Starfire. The Flash could be heard saying, "I'll handle him," in a rush as he ran after the twin speedsters.

"What are you doing, Impulse?" the Flash asked, running across the water.

"Going to tell Wonder Woman to get lost," Kid Flash replied as he and Inertia continued their super-speed run across the water.

"No, I mean the costume," the Flash clarified. "Quoting Mark Twain . . . since when do you read Mark Twain, anyway?"

"I've grown fond of his work," Kid Flash answered. "Particularly a little book called _Roughing It._ I find it to be a parallel of my life as of now. Going west and finding I'm capable of a lot more than _some people_ think I am."

"What? I've never said –" the Flash protested, but Kid Flash cut him off.

"Not to my face. And I'm tired of it." A wave began to form from the kinetic energy bleeding into the water from the three speedsters' movements.

"What are you doing with Inertia?"

"He came here to look out for me, which is a lot more than what you've done."

"He's a criminal, Impulse."

"My name is Kid Flash, and so was Heat Wave. So was the original Trickster. So was the Piper. One of them is now a friend of yours. Why can't you give Thad the same chance?"

"Because he doesn't trust your judgment," Inertia interjected. "Because he thinks you have no clue at all how the real world works."

"I never meant to hurt your feelings," the Flash said.

"Didn't you?" Inertia asked. "Haven't you always felt usurped by Bart? After all, you considered Barry Allen more of a father than the one you actually had. You practically worshipped the ground he ran on. You thought of yourself as his son, his heir . . . and to see his real legacy come back through time to someday supplant you as the Flash . . . that had to burn, didn't it? _Didn't it?_"

"Bart, don't listen!" the Flash pleaded, even as Kid Flash and Inertia ran opposite circles around him. "He's just playing head games!"

"I know what head games are," Kid Flash answered grimly. "And give me a break. If I can survive getting kneecapped by Deathstroke, I can survive your real opinion of me."

"Deathstroke? What did he –?"

"Did you know that when water is boiled into steam, its volume increases by sixteen hundred and transfers the kinetic energy between molecules into whatever it hits?"

The Flash found that out when a storm surge suddenly slammed into his chest, knocking him back onto the island. "How did that happen?" Kid Flash asked, running back to the island.

"I redirected the kinetic energy of the water," Inertia replied, following Bart. "If I hadn't, we all would have been messed up by that storm surge, not just the Flash."

Floodlights abruptly shined on the combating Titans and Leaguers, causing them to stop. All of the combatants looked up, finding a lean, athletically built young man garbed in skintight black with a blue wing symbol across his chest and a birdlike mask covering his eyes perched on a Batjet. "Oh, man, we are in so much trouble," Inertia uttered.

* * *

End Notes: You can guess who that guy was, can't you? If you can, then you know why Inertia said what he said. Anyway, I'm going to save the rest of this for the next chapter. In the meantime, questions, tips, critiques, and comments are all welcome.

Next chapter: The Justice League gets a stern talking-to! Inertia meets his fanboy crush and starts school with Kid Flash!


	4. Chapter 4

"Inertial Impulses"

Part 1: "A Kid's Game"

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Teen Titans, its characters, and the universe they inhabit belong to DC Comics, not me.

Author's note: I'm sure you can all guess who showed up at the end of last chapter, can't you? If so . . . then try to guess who Inertia's fanboy crush is. Confused? Read and be enlightened.

* * *

"Floodlights got your attention?" Nightwing asked. "Good. I got wind of Wonder Woman's situation on my JLA reserve communicator. What I didn't expect was to find you all acting like children."

"Nightwing," Flash uttered as his old friend descended from the Batjet.

"Flash," Nightwing addressed his longtime brother-in-arms. "You were one of us. You know the worst thing you can do to the Titans is to show up unannounced. You used to hate it when Aquaman and Hawkman would show up for an impromptu "cookout" – we all knew it was just an excuse to keep tabs on Garth and Charley."

The Flash had the decency to look shamefaced. "I . . . I guess that _did_ bug the hell out of us. I forget about that."

Nightwing turned to Starfire next. "Kory . . . I've known you a long time. I know you can control yourself _better_ than this."

"I think we _all_ can," Cyborg commented, helping Beast Boy up.

"_Yto'r . . ._" Starfire murmured.

"Cyborg's right," Superman conceded. "Let's take a minute. Let's _talk._"

The Titans and the League, along with Nightwing and Inertia, retreated into Titans Tower in the hopes of talking things out. Of course, it soon degenerated into recriminations, courtesy of Starfire. "I still say this is _Wonder Woman's_ fault!"

Nightwing spared a glance at his onetime lover, standing between her and Wonder Woman. "Kory. Settle down."

"It's not that I didn't _want_ her to be included in all of this," Wonder Woman said. "I wanted to wait until I was ready –"

Starfire cut her off harshly. "This is about _her!_"

"And I take _responsibility_ for her," Wonder Woman insisted.

Starfire barked out a harsh, bitter laugh before her completely green eyes flashed fury. "_Responsibility?! _You want to talk about _responsibility?!_ These _young men and women_ blame _themselves_ for _Donna Troy's death!_ They have _lived_ with the guilt just as _Victor, Garfield,_ and _myself_ have. Guilt that we have _survived,_ or that we _failed,_ or that we brought this upon _ourselves_ – but if _anyone_ is to be _blamed_ it should be _you!_" Her fury and grief finally found purchase in a blinding wave of heat, light, and force that stretched from her hand and impacted against Superman's invulnerable chest. The S-shield smoked, but the Man of Steel was otherwise unharmed.

"Don't."

Cyborg, Nightwing, and Beast Boy moved to restrain Starfire, even as she continued on her diatribe. "It was one of _your_ Superman androids that killed Donna! A mindless _robot_ that was too much trouble to turn into _scrap!_ If you want to talk about _responsibility,_ you start with the _Kryptonian!_"

The five teenaged heroes watched the exchange with varying expressions on their face. Wonder Girl seemed shocked, while Superboy and Robin stared stoically or grimly ahead. Kid Flash was the only one who was willing to vocalize his thoughts with a single drawn-out "Damn."

As for Inertia, Bart Allen's dark twin smirked with forbidding amusement. "I like her."

Superman's expression was one of shamed sorrow. "You're right. It's not _your_ fault. I thought I had dismantled all of those androids. But one obviously fell into the wrong hands."

Wonder Woman sighed. "The blame belongs to no one, Superman – save myself." She addressed Wonder Girl directly. "I do not want you to _hide_ things from me, Cassie. That is all I came here to say. I was angry, and perhaps arrogant – maybe even _wrong._ We just hope you know, _all_ of you, even Inertia, that we are here if you need us."

"Emphasis on _if,_" Inertia added.

"Like Inertia said," Nightwing agreed. "You want these kids to open up to you – respect their _privacy_ here at the Tower. Let them handle things on their own. No matter _what._" He turned to address Batman. "I'll give Robin a lift to Gotham, Batman. He can _skip_ the lecture tonight."

There was a beat of silence and then Batman uttered one word. "Fine."

"Then I can show you and the rest of the League – the way _out,_" Cyborg stated.

After the Justice League left, Nightwing was catching up with his old friends. "You're leading the Outsiders?" Cyborg asked.

"Nightwing and the Outsiders?" Beast Boy quipped. "Weird."

Inertia was contenting himself with spying on Robin and Superboy's conversation. He was vibrating his molecules so fast that not only was he intangible, he was also invisible. He just had to remain still and not make a sound so as not to be caught by Superboy's senses. Fortunately, he had become very good at using his powers for stealth. He'd arrived just in time to hear Robin say, ". . . it tested positive. _Lex Luthor_ was your human donor."

"Dammit, you're _just like Batman,_ you know that?" Superboy borderline erupted. "Lying, sneaking around –"

Robin cut him off. "Ignoring it wasn't going to help anyone."

"And how's knowing going to help me?" Superboy asked, his tone taking on shades of panic. "What am I supposed to do now? It's like, it's like I've got a fifty-fifty chance of growing up to be the world's greatest hero – or the world's greatest villain."

"Not to mention – you could go bald," Robin remarked after a moment of silence.

Inertia moved away from the scene; he'd heard enough. _Superboy and I are more alike than I expected. Evil in the blood, right? But he's more of a hero than I am. And President Thawne wasn't exactly a slouch in the evil department; he ran Earthgov. But if I can overcome the evil in me, so can Kon. I know he can._

Just as he turned visible again, Nightwing spotted him. "Inertia. I wanted to talk to you before I took Robin back to Gotham."

"Yeah?" Inertia asked neutrally, carefully masking his nervousness. After all, he was in front of Nightwing, first Robin, first junior crime-fighter . . . He tried his best not to observe how the black fabric emphasized the acrobat's lean muscles and to just look Nightwing in his masked eyes. It was a hard task, but Inertia had some idea of what self-control was and how to maintain or fake it.

"You might want to be more careful," Nightwing suggested.

"Careful?" Inertia echoed.

"In the way you fight," Nightwing clarified. "I know you just want to do good, but you can't go that far."

"What do you mean?" Inertia inquired.

"Wherever Bart settled, there were reports of a speedster using excessive force on criminals, many of whom ended up in the hospital with mysterious burns," Nightwing explained. "The witnesses . . . whenever they were actually there . . . said the speedster looked like Impulse with different colors and blond hair. Look, Inertia, I want to give you a chance. I want to believe that you're trying to do the right thing, but you can't . . . do things like that to people, even if they are criminals."

"Why not?" Inertia asked. "They hurt other people. They deserve what they get."

"Doing this . . . requires you to be better than that," Nightwing replied. "Our job is to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty."

"You totally ripped that off _Hexed,_" Inertia said, his lips quirking upward into a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nightwing responded. "Just take care of yourself, and Bart."

"I will," Inertia vowed.

"I'm going to take Robin back to Gotham now," Nightwing said. "You'll be all right with Bart, right?"

"Yeah, I will be," Inertia answered.

"Good to hear," Nightwing said, patting Inertia on the shoulder before walking over to Robin. Inertia was left gently passing his hand over his shoulder, his lips quivering into a giddy smile.

* * *

End Notes: I suppose you know who Inertia's "fanboy crush" is now. Whether you liked or hated this story or these latest developments, your comments are most welcome, along with questions, tips, or critiques.

Next chapter: Thad Thawne goes to Keystone City High. Is he ready? Is the school ready? Is _Bart_ ready?


	5. Part 1 Interlude

"Inertial Impulses"

Part 1: "A Kid's Game"

Interlude

Disclaimer: Teen Titans, its characters, and the universe they inhabit belong to DC Comics, not me. This is a pity.

Author's note: Inertia has spent centuries studying Bart Allen's life. He has also been trained to have an excellent head for strategy and tactics. But will any of that help him where he's going? To find out, read on.

* * *

On the first Monday morning since he had become Kid Flash and Thad Thawne had reentered his life, Bart returned to Keystone City High. He had a new spring in his step, born of a surge of confidence he hadn't felt since before Donna Troy died. He was no longer a stupid, impulsive child. He felt more like the man he was readier to become. He had three tests coming up, but he wasn't worried. He knew pretty much everything they had to teach him now. Hell, he bet he could teach here.

He entered his homeroom, only for the teacher and his classmates to give him odd looks. "Huh? What are you all looking at me . . . like that . . . for . . . ?" He drifted off as soon as he saw Thad Thawne, dressed in a green hoodie and baggy black pants. The doppelganger smirked at him.

"Family resemblance," Thad commented to the teacher. "Hard to avoid when you come from the same gene pool."

"Ah, I see," the teacher remarked coolly. "Bart, I'd like you to meet your new classmate Thad Thawne, although it seems you two already know each other."

"Yeah, we do," Bart replied. "We go back a long way."

"Sure do," Thad agreed as he sauntered to his seat.

That afternoon, when lunchtime was in session, Bart was carrying his tray looking for a place to sit. He looked around and spotted Thad sitting at a table, surrounded by girls. Thad waved at Bart, signaling him to come over. Bart walked over somewhat hesitantly; none of the books he'd read had really showed him how to deal with girls. Yes, he'd read the ones on human sexuality and gender studies, but just because he read them didn't mean he could necessarily apply them to real-world situations. All the social theory in the world didn't stop his breathing from quickening out of nervousness.

Finally, he took a seat across from Thad and next to a girl with honey-highlighted dark hair and dressed in a spaghetti-strap top and pants made from some soft fabric. "Um, Thad? What's with all the girls?"

"I only count three," Thad replied. "That's not that many, Bart."

"You have the coolest eyes," the honey-haired girl commented to Bart.

"I do?" Bart asked.

"Yeah," she averred. "I've never seen anybody with yellow eyes before. You look like a cat. A cute, cuddly cat."

Bart's only answer was to blush and stammer. It wasn't as though he hadn't had a girlfriend before. Carol Bucklen back in Manchester immediately came to mind. He'd liked her, cared about her . . . still missed her, even now. Rose Wilson was another, but they had never actually dated. She seemed more annoyed and almost repulsed by him than attracted to him, even though she had been the first girl he'd been attracted to.

"What's your name?" he finally got out.

"Kaylee," the honey-haired girl replied.

"And I'd like to introduce you to her friends," Thad interjected. He turned to a petite Japanese girl. "Hinako." He then moved to a redhead. "Zoë." He smiled at Bart, diverting the two girls' attention to him. "And that is my brother, cousin, however we're related, Bart."

Hinako smiled at Bart and greeted him, Zoë doing likewise but more confidently in contrast to Hinako's shy politeness. Bart smiled back and greeted the two girls. "How did you guys find Thad?"

"He looked so lonely all by himself," Zoë replied mischievously.

"Hey, Thad," a teenage boy's voice greeted him. Thad looked up and saw a shaggy-haired boy in black denim walking toward him, carrying a tray. The shaggy-haired boy plopped onto the last available seat at the table, grinning at Thad. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, Zane," Thad invited.

"I need help with my history," Zane explained. "I don't even remember what got us into the fight with Great Britain way back in 1776."

"It was actually a variety of factors," Bart expounded. "Mainly, a continual spiral of disrespect from Great Britain toward the American colonies. They were taxed without being represented in Great Britain's government, so the colonists assaulted a ship that came to bring them tea and dumped the tea overboard, all while disguised as Native Americans. Another notorious incident was the Boston Massacre, with British soldiers in what was apparently cold blood killing several Americans."

"Whoa," Zane uttered in surprise.

"I read a library," Bart replied. "Took me a year and a half, but I read it."

"He's right," Thad said. "Everything Bart just told you is in your textbook and in my head. I can squeeze you in for some tutoring if you like."

"Yeah, man, that'd be great," Zane said.

"It's a deal," Thad said. He caught Zane's look of confusion as his eyes darted between Thad and Bart. "What?"

"It's just . . . if it wasn't for the hair, you'd look exactly alike," Zane replied. "What are you, twins?"

"Very close relatives," Thad drawled.

Two days later, Thad found himself sitting in detention, furiously writing a five-page essay as to why it was wrong to hit the assistant principal. It wasn't his fault; the asshole should have known not to accuse Bart of cheating. His twin's previous underperformance had made his sudden acing of two out of three of his exams suspect to the principal and assistant principal. They had blatantly accused Bart of cheating with no real evidence that he did, just their suspicion and it had incensed Thad enough to sock the assistant principal. He would have socked the principal, but the old fart looked like he was about to fall over, anyway, so he'd figured it wasn't worth it.

As Thad began the fifth page of his essay, he muttered vicious curses in English, Interlac, German, Japanese, French, and Spanish. A quarter hour's worth of swearing later, he was finished with the essay. With nothing to do for the next twenty minutes, he made a pillow of his arms and went to sleep. About twenty-one minutes later, he felt a nudge against his shoulder.

"Thad," a teacher's voice spoke. "It's time to wake up. You're free to go."

"Yeah," Thad groaned as he rose to an upright position in his seat. "Here's the essay. But tell that bastard of an assistant principal that if he ever accuses Bart of cheating again, I'll do worse than a simple punch."

"You know," she said, "if I told him that, I'd end up getting you suspended or kicked out. And that would be a shame."

"Yeah, yeah," Thad grumbled. "See ya." He walked out of the classroom, feeling very bad-tempered.

He went looking for Bart, only to spot him dressed as Kid Flash and speeding away from the trussed-up new Trickster. Thad ducked into an alley and literally quick-changed into his Inertia costume. Speeding out of the alley, Inertia quickly caught up to Kid Flash. "Hey, Kid."

"You didn't have to do that, you know?" Kid Flash said.

"He had it coming," Inertia responded. "You're the most honest person I know. If anyone coming from your gene pool is likely to cheat, it's me. I've got Thawne blood in my veins."

"But you don't need to," Kid Flash said. "You're really smart."

"I live for compliments like that," Inertia preened. "Anyway, I've got something that'll make us both feel better."

"What's that?" Kid Flash asked.

"How about a trip to New Zealand?" Inertia suggested. "Some snowboarding, some girls . . ."

"We can't," Kid Flash said.

"Why not?" Inertia asked. "We've got speed on our side. Anywhere we wanna go is virtually like going next door. We'll be able to get you back here in time for dinner with Jay and Joan. What do you say?"

"Since you put it that way . . ." Kid Flash answered. "Race you!" He ran west, Inertia following.

About five or six time zones away, the twin speedsters were standing high on a snowy mountain. Bart wore a red winter suit, while Thad wore a green winter suit. Ski caps snugly covered all but a few stray locks of hair, while thick scarves wrapped the lower halves of their faces and ski goggles covered their eyes. Both were armed with only snowboards, but that was all they needed.

"You ready, Bart?" Thad asked.

"Yeah," Bart replied.

"Let's do this," Thad said. He threw his snowboard down on the mountain and placed his feet in the snowboard's holders. He leaned forward and began to move down the mountain, sliding and surfing down its snowy surface. Bart quickly followed and the two became a game of tag down the mountain. Bart quickly passed Thad, tagging him as he did so. Thad poured on the speed, catching up to Bart and tagging him. It went on like this, the two tagging each other back and forth down the mountain, until they reached the point at which it would be advisable to stop.

"That was awesome!" Bart whooped.

"Yeah," Thad agreed with a smirk. "Now aren't you glad you listened to me?"

"Yeah," Bart replied. "Now how about some hot cocoa?"

"If a really hot girl gives it to me, yeah," Thad answered.

Later on, Bart and Thad were sitting in a cabin drinking hot cocoa. As seemed to be par for the course for them, they were surrounded by girls. Again, as par for the course, they were drawn to Thad but stayed for Bart. Eyes as vibrantly and innocently yellow as Bart's seemed to be catnip for girls. Thad checked his watch and nudged Bart, whispering, "We gotta go."

"Ok," Bart whispered back. "Um, girls, it's nice being with you, but Thad and I gotta go or we'll miss our plane."

"That would suck," one of the girls remarked. "Even more than you boys having to leave. Will you come back?"

"For you, Maya?" Thad asked flirtatiously. "Yeah." With that said, he and Bart stood up and left the cabin, speeding back to Keystone City and to the Garricks' home. "I guess this is where we part."

"You can come in, you know," Bart offered.

"Serious?" Thad asked. "I can?"

"Yeah," Bart affirmed. "You can."

End Part 1

* * *

End Notes: Everything's going mostly ok for Thad so far, right? He's got a brother, he's got friends, he's got the leader of the younger generation of heroes pulling for him . . . what more could he ask for? Well, there's going to be some upheaval in his life in the chapters to come, so he'd better enjoy what he's got while he can. Again, questions, tips, critiques, and comments are welcome.

Next chapter: Thad and the teenage Titans learn the story of Raven and take on Brother Blood.


End file.
